Doctor, please. Not ‘mister’. [The correction is an impulse that becomes next to impossible to tamp down once the mood shifts. It inserts some mode of control over this conversation, when the reality is a little messier: Stephen is just casting a wide net, and hoping he drags back something useful in it.

He steps forward, frowning.]

I’m not ‘with’ anyone. I’m following my own line of inquiry, that’s all. [that’s a l i e of course] You shouldn’t have a problem with that, coming from an adoring fan. A concerned adoring fan. It’s not all fun and games when the fear here feels just as invasive.